🚀 go-pugleaf

The June 27 issue of Information Week has a big story on the DEC 
restructuring: "Restructuring will transform sales staff into 'free
agents' ".  It starts off:

Digital Equipment Corp. is readying a major restructuring plan intended to 
greatly reduce its head count and turn the bulk of its computer sales 
force into independent agents.  The announcement could come within days.

In addition, sources say Digital will restructure into a holding company 
with five or more business units that focus on consulting, networking, 
storage, PCs, and midrange products.  The goal, says one source, is to 
make it easier to spin off or sell the units.

These moves are designed to slash the computer maker's work force by as 
many as 20,000 employees by year's end and shift the company's sales 
emphasis to indirect channels.  By reclassifying thousands of salespeople 
into independent agents who would be paid solely on commission, Digital 
hopes to avoid paying severance packages and taking a huge restructuring 
charge.

Analysts have serious reservations about Digital's approach...Sources say 
Digital will retain a small direct sales force to manage large customers 
at top Fortune 500 accounts....Some of Digital's customers say they are 
not anxious to work with salespeople whose confidence, loyalty, and 
employee status will be questionable.  "The relationship between us as a 
customer and the Digital sales exec is a partnership.  If you introduce 
free agents, there's no way of telling where that partnership will go 
down the line."  "It's going to be sink or swim for these salespeople.  
It's going to be ugly."  "Digital's customers at large companies are like 
the family jewels--it's not really a good idea to let outsiders near them..."


John O'Brien                Tel. 603-880-3005
Storage Computer Corp.      Fax. 603-889-7232
11 Riverside Street
Nashua, NH 03062            European headquarters: Wiesbaden, Germany
United States               Tel. 49 611 30 82 30 6   

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